Schmidt Friedrich Otto

Viennese interior decoration company

In 1858 Carl Friedrich Schmidt (1824 – 1894) who had been born into a Berliner carpernter’s family moved to Vienna. Here he initially became a partner in the "Tapeten-Niederlage F. Schmidt & Sugg" but became the sole owner shortly thereafter. By 1864 he was already a supplier to the Vienna imperial court.

The enterprise experienced an upturn when his eldest son, Otto (1854 - 1895), joined "Friedrich Otto Schmidts technisches Atelier für Zimmerdekorationen [technical studio for interior decoration]" which, in keeping with Historicism, delivered fixtures and furnishings for whole residences. The business was active in the Wiener Kunstgewerbereform [Vienna Arts and Crafts Reform] and took part in exhibitions in the Austrian Museum for Art and Industry (today’s MAK – the Austrian Museum of Applied Arts).

In 1894, after the death of Carl Friedrich Schmidt, the two younger sons Max (1861-1935) and Leo (1867-1942) took over the flourishing business and founded the subsidiary "Schmidt Miksa" (=Max) in Budapest. In Vienna the company headquarters was moved to Palais Neupauer-Breuner in Singerstrasse and, in 1904, to Palais Chotek at 28 Währinger Straße where it is still to be found today.

Around 1900 the company was also involved in the design reforms of the "Wiener Moderne" and made numerous pieces of furniture using English models. It was during this period that the close cooperation with architect Adolf Loos (1870-1933) and the F. O. Schmidt workshops began, resulting in the creation of models such as the "Elefantenrüsseltisch [elephant trunk table]". The Schmidt company took up Loos’ ideas and began to produce furniture using his stylistic vocabulary. Viennese contemporaries called them "furniture á la Loos".

Ref.: Eva B. Ottillinger, Adolf Loos, Wohnkonzepte und Möbelentwürfe, Salzburg - Vienna 1994, p. 71 - 80.